“Ralph? Ralph? Oh for Christ’s sake! Ralph!” A high-pitched voice blasted through Ralph’s head, dispersing all the clouds and scrolls that had been right in front of his eyes. “Raphael Edward Smith, you will wake up this moment, or else!” Groaning, Ralph grabbed the pillow beside his head and placed it over his head, trying to block out the surge of noise that now flooded his human senses. He could hear his mother shout his name again, only to hear his father yell back, from outside the house, “Oh for Christ’s sake, Dan, stop yelling! The boy’ll come down soon enough.” Through the pillow, Ralph could hear his father mutter darkly, the familiar crinkling of newspaper announcing that his father had gone to check the mail. Thank God I live in South Carolina. Raphael thought, lifting the pillow slightly and opening one of his eyes slightly, only to close it shut with a confirming glance that he had forgotten to close his window. A drafty, cold wind blew through his window, causing Ralph to pull his large blanket over his head and he drifted back asleep again, his eyes fluttering closed once more.

Two sharp raps brought Ralph back to the real world, rudely. “Raphael! For God’s sake, it’s already twelve in the afternoon, young man! I didn’t bring you up to let you be a lazy piece of garbage!” Ralph sighed and sat up, and blinked lazily. “I’m up, Mom,” he replied, yawning widely. He could hear his mother stomping back down the stairs, her angry muttering mixing in with the noises from outside and from the kitchen downstairs. “And for the love of God, close your window!” Ralph shook his head with exasperation- he had come home late last night and had barely been able to get any sleep at all. Excitement coursed through his veins as he got up and closed his window, bolting it shut. He had found his human. To think that he has been so close to me for so long. Really shouldn’t have spent that much time pursuing an education to leave this place. Ralph stretched, a satisfied smile on his face, and changed quickly, pulling off his pajamas to put on a dress shirt with a sweater on top, and a pair of formal pants. His wardrobe itself was filled with such formal, or semi-formal clothes, and almost no casual clothes at all. Not a hoodie in sight.

Humming a light tune- Act 1, Tableau 1, The Christmas Tree from Tchaikovsky’s the Nutcracker Ballet- Ralph made his way to the bathroom and brushed his teeth within 5 minutes sharp. Finishing his business, Ralph bounded down the stairs, two steps at a time, and walked into the kitchen. “Morning, mother.” he said, placing a light kiss on Danielle’s cheek before pouring himself a cup of coffee and sitting down across from his father at the table. “Morning, father.” His father shot him an annoyed look before returning to his newspaper. “Mmpfh.” Came the usual, standard, muffled reply from behind the newspaper. Stomping over with his breakfast on a plate, and two other plates in her other hand, Ralph’s mother set his food hard on the table, causing a bit of his scrambled eggs to fly off the plate and onto the desk. “Breakfast,” she muttered, placing the two other plates gently on the table in front of the newspaper and for herself, “is finally served.” She shot a dark glance at Ralph before sitting down in her chair, picking up the pre-placed fork and knife in front of her before carefully digging in. Ralph coughed slightly and muttered a ‘thank you’ before digging into his food himself, careful to make sure he didn’t watch Danielle too much and that he didn’t start laughing. He could tell that his father was having a hard time looking serious as well, as the older man folded his newspaper to a side to reveal a forced frown on his face.

“Well, where were you last night?” Suddenly breaking the silence, his mother looked at Ralph with expectant eyes, an eyebrow raised. “You never stay out after ten, and you always give us a call if you do come home at ten, along with where you’re at and who you’re with.” Ralph kept his head down, staring at his scrambled eggs. Humans. He thought. Well, rather, mothers. Coughing again, he looked up and then looked away again. I would suppose that after living with humans for so long I’d be a bit better at lying. “Mom, I swear to God, I was just driving over. I’m sorry that I didn’t call you, but I was tired.” Careful to not make any eye contact- now why wouldn’t I?- Ralph shoveled some more of his scrambled eggs into his mouth. The earlier tasty eggs now felt like rubber as a feeling coursed through his body, a feeling that Ralph was now rather well acquainted with through his human body. Nervousness. Consciously shifting around in his chair, Ralph cleared his throat to look at his mother’s eyes glaring down at him with a fiery intensity. “You did not go out drinking.” Ralph sighed and looked at his mother, “No.”

“You were not outside participating in illegal activities?” Ralph and Danielle both glared at his father who snorted into his eggs the moment the question was asked. With an impatient huff, Ralph turned and faced his mom, “No, Ma, come on, you know me better. I’d never do that sort of stuff.” The lady pursed her lips and looked at her son, “Download music from the internet? I’m sure you did that last night.” Ralph groaned as he grabbed his place and got up, placing the dirty plate in the sink. Why is it that humans have to be so aggravating all the time? Especially mothers. Mothers! Ralph rolled his eyes, the humane emotions coursing through his vein tilting him towards annoyance and anger. “I’m going out; I’ll be back.” Without saying anything else, Ralph bounded towards the front door, grabbing the jacket he had placed on the coat hanger and putting it on, while grabbing his car keys from the key holder on the shoe rack with his other hand. Where’s my phone. Sighing, Ralph turned right back and ignored the white and furious face his mother shot at him as he bounded up the stairs, grabbed his phone, and ran back down again.

“I promise I’ll be back home for dinner. I’ll make sure to call you two if something happens, okay?” Opening and closing the front door, Ralph bounded out but slow enough to hear his father say from behind his paper, “Cut the boy some slack! Just because it’s the first time this has happened doesn’t mean you have to chew him out like there’s no tomorrow. Jeez, woman.” Laughing slightly, Ralph walked to his car, unlocked it and sat down on the cold seat. Shivering slightly, he turned on the car and waited for the heater to start up. Should I go see him? I really have no idea what to do… Ralph sighed and placed his hands on the wheel, a serious look crossing his face. His time was rewound back to three months ago, and, well, I do know who he is and where he is at but how do I get close to him?

Pulling out, Ralph started a slow drive down the streets and made his way towards the address he had made sure to save in his memory.

---

Pulling to a stop, Ralph parked his car perfectly and turned off the engine. This is the place. He still didn’t know what to do, but it was against his character to push the task off any longer. It was his duty as an angel to help heal this man of tuberculosis, make sure he didn’t die so that the grand scheme of plans could go as intended by the Lord. I suppose this will turn out rather…interesting? Ralph thought as he sighed once more and took the first step towards his probable success or failure.

Laughter filled the room as he said something to her, about a certain thing as they went back and remembered everything as if this would be the last time they spoke to each other. She hoped it wouldn't, she prayed, and watched him carefully. Part of her cried for him to stay with her while other part knew it was coming. This was yet another time he had been in the hospital in the last what... two months? She wanted him to stay with her, to not leave her alone, and to be like that big brother to her even though she was the older one of the two. She sat next to his hospital bed observing his shallow breathing, and how he blankly stared at the heart monitor. They obviously both knew it was coming, and at this point she was almost anticipating it. Her hand gripped her older brother's hand tightly while he held her hand weakly, and slowly turned to look at her. After a while she was trembling, and crying. "Please, please. You can't go. I need you! Please," she begged, clinging to him as her sobs shook her entire body. He offered her a brave smile. "You're stronger than I could ever be." He had murmured, a single tear falling from his eyes as his breathing slowed, and eventually stopped. Her sobs shook her body as she laid her head on him, hearing the flat line from the heart monitor made her heart drop to the floor. The horrible sound of her cries shook the room as nurses and doctors rushed in...

Emmy sat on the porch swing in the back side of her apartment. Humming softly she rolled her eyes as the kid's next door skipped onto their back porch and watched her carefully. Their eyes studying her fingers as she strummed notes on her guitar. Instantly the glass door pushed open from behind her, her best friend stepped through the door, throwing a gentle smile in the direction of the children next door before singing along with the strum of Emmy's guitar. Maxwell flicked a strand of her best friend's hair, smiling at her for a moment before taking a seat on the ground closest to the door. The apartment wasn't big so the porch wasn't either.

"You tell all the boys "No"
Makes you feel good, yeah.
I know you're out of my league
But that won't scare me away, oh, no,"

He sang, throwing a glance in her direction, swaying with the strum of her guitar. Emmy threw a glance in his direction, rolling her eyes at him, stopping and shaking her head once at him. "That isn't even the song Max," She said with a small giggle. "What? Can I not sing Beneath Your Beautiful? Is it Illegal?" He grinned at her, folding his hands in his lap. "Yes it is when its supposed to be Chasing Cars." She joked, looking over at the kid's next door who laughed a little. "Ok sorry guys, shows over though, my brother is coming over in a little while." She mentioned, standing and throwing Maxwell a look who held his hands up. "Every time? Its just your brother. He's met me before." He said as he rose to his feet, taking her guitar for her and walking into her apartment. Diamond jumped from her kitty tree, looking at Maxwell and Emmy as they entered the room. Emmy scooped her kitty up into her arms, swinging Diamond like she was a little baby. Of course in Emmy's eyes she pretty much was her baby. Taking a seat on her couch she watched Maxwell carefully as he looked through her practically empty fridge. "Geez, you never have anything in here." He muttered, straightening up then stretching his hands over his head. "Yes, I know... Look later we'll go out some where so you don't go hungry, but for now leave. Like I said my brother is going to be here soon and I want to spend time with him. You should know why." She raised an eyebrow slightly, stroking the top of her cat's head.

Maxwell nodded, waving a hand slightly dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. As long as we get some food later I'm fine with leaving now. I know how important spending time with your brother is." He said softly, stretching even more before turning away from the closed fridge and giving her a look that said 'I'm not happy about it, but I'll go for you' kind of look. "Alright I'm going, I'll see you later though." He gave her a grin before walking over to her, sitting down and giving her a gentle hug. She returned his grin with her own and returned his hug with a tight hug from her. Once again he stood up, gave her a little wave then left her apartment. This was when Emmy took a look around and put down her cat. She had to clean up a little bit because right now it was a complete wreck when Emmy got Maxwell to help her look for a sheet of her music. Needless to say it took a lot to find it, so while waiting for her adoptive brother to arrive she began to multi-task with cooking a very small meal and cleaning up her wrecked apartment.